Chickens and Snakes
by Nikkel
Summary: It's "Bring-Your-Pet-To-School-Day", and 9 year-old Ozai can't wait to show everyone his birds. Unfortunately, Long Feng has a cruel trick to show him...  Oneshot


**Chickens and Snakes  
><strong>_By Nikkel  
><em>( c ) to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Koneitzko, and Nickelodeon Studios

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><p>Little nine year-old Ozai couldn't stop grinning. He was walking to school with a birdcage strapped to him like a backpack.<p>

"I can't wait to show you guys to everyone!" he said to three birds in the cage; there were two small cockatiels and one African grey. "You can meet Feng and Ming and Kya! I wonder what kind of pets they have..."

Had the birds not been idly squawking and tweeting in response, the youngest Hamill would have looked as if he had been talking to himself. He crossed the lawn and the parking lot, seeing parents help their kids get their pets out of the car and into the school. Ozai hadn't told his father about Bring-Your-Pet-To-School-Day; it would have been too much trouble, and his father hated his birds, anyways. Ozai had wanted his older brother Iroh to come, but he had school today, too. So, Ozai had set out for this day all by himself, prepared with some bird seed for lunch and a refillable water bottle.

He followed the rest of his classmates into the gym, staring in amazement at all of the animals he saw – dogs, cats, rats, lizards, rabbits, and even _pigs_! His father had never allowed him to have any pets other than birds, but _oh_, did he wish he could have a chinchilla or something!

"Wow, guys!" he exclaimed. There were booths where people with similar pets were set up, and he dashed over to the booth with birds, the birdcage bouncing on his back.

"Hey Ozai!" a girl called, and Ozai stopped, his head turning to find his friend Ming. She had a square cage with four yellow finches in it.

"Hi Ming," he said, walking over.

"You can set up your stuff next to mine," she said, indicating at the empty table space next to her. "Those are some really cool birds! What are their names?"

"The two cockatiels are Zuko and Zaiku. The other one is Sozin, after my grandfather," Ozai explained as he set the birdcage on the table, his chest swelling with pride.

"Ooh! They're so pretty. Mine are just finches, but their names are Sunnybird, Seashell, Delilah, and Daisy."

"Cool! You should bring them over to my house. My room has a bunch of bird stuff that my birds can fly and climb on and stuff. Isn't that right, Sozin?"

"_Right, right, Ozai_!" whistled the African grey.

"He can talk!" Ming gasped. "That's _so _cool! I wish my birds could talk."

"Oh _my_, Ozai. I thought you would have had something a little more... _impressive_, than birds," cut in a snotty voice. Ozai and Ming turned to find a tall fifth-grader next to them, a thick, dark green snake coiled around his right arm and shoulder.

"But they can talk, Feng!" Ming said. Long Feng raised a brow, jade eyes flashing to Ozai.

"_Can _they talk, Ozai" he asked, voice cool and tempered.

"Well, not all of them. Only Sozin," Ozai replied, gesturing at the bird. "I'm trying to teach him some jokes, but it's not—"

Ozai paused as Long Feng leaned his face toward the birdcage. His snake flicked its forked tongue out and raised its head, yellow eyes gleaming. Ozai swallowed.

"Um... Feng? Can you not get so close to the cage?" Ozai asked. Zuko and Zaiku were now huddled together and at the back of the cage, suddenly quiet. Sozin, on the other hand, was puffed up and ready to fight, clicking his beak and whistling. "You're making them nervous..."

"You should take one of them out," Feng said, leaning back. "My snake, Dai Lee, can do a neat trick with them."

"Um..." Ozai stuttered. He didn't like where this was going, but Feng was right about things most of the time... And, he _had _shown Ozai how to do some cool things in the past.

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to," Ming interjected, standing up for him. "Shouldn't you be over by your booth anyways?"

"Shut up, you stupid third-grader," Feng snapped back. "C'mon, Ozai, take one of them out. This'll be really cool, I promise."

"Don't do it, Ozai! He's tricking you!" Ming cried.

"Go away! You're gonna ruin our fun!" Feng snapped again.

"Fine!" Ming shouted, curling her fists and stomping away. "But I'm getting a teacher!"

"Go ahead! You'll miss the trick!" Feng yelled back. He looked at Ozai. "So are you gonna get one out or what?"

"Um... I guess I could... Zuko's wings were clipped when I got him, so he can't fly away anyway..." Ozai mumbled. A part of him thought that Ming was probably right, but another part of him _really _wanted to see what Feng was going to do. He reached into the cage and pulled the small, warm body of the grey cockatiel with a red head and yellow tail out, cupping him in his hands.

"Put him on the table," Feng commanded, and Ozai did so. Zuko hopped about the plastic surface, picking at it with his black beak. Feng extended his arm to the table so Dai Lee slithered off of it, coiling herself on the same table. "Now watch this, Ozai."

Zuko froze before the snake. Dai Lee was also still, remaining coiled and crouching low. She tasted and smelled the air with her forked tongue, knowing the cockatiel was near. Zuko twittered and hopped a few paces backwards; Dai Lee inched closer, slow and precise. Ozai held his breath, hoping that Ming wasn't right about this being a bad joke. Even though Sozin was different and could talk, Zuko was his favorite, and he didn't want that to have to change...

Suddenly, Dai Lee struck, jaws opening wide and catching Zuko in her mouth. The cockatiel screamed and flapped its wings, beating the snake in the face, but there was a sickening crackle of bone and Zuko became still. Dai Lee stretched her mouth and swallowed the bird whole. Zuko was now a lump in her esophagus.

Ozai's amber eyes went wide with shock, his mouth agape. He wanted to scream, but it was as if he had lost his voice.

"Oh," Feng said in mild surprise. Dai Lee now crawled back up his arm, content with her meal. "I guess she was hungry. Oops."

Tears well in Ozai's eyes. "Z... Zuko..."

"Oh, c'mon," Feng sneered. "You're not gonna cry, are you? It was just an accident."

Ozai sniffled. Feng was mean, but it also _had _been an accident; it probably hadn't been the trick he had wanted to show him.

"W-Well," he blubbered. "He... He always _was _kinda different from the others 'cause he couldn't fly..."

"That's more like it," Feng said, clapping him on the back, hard. "Now, I'm gonna make fun of Hakoda's stupid mutt. Wanna join me?"

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself, you're missing out," Feng said, and walked away. Ozai sighed, reaching into the birdcage and stroking the soft, feathered heads of his remaining pets.

"I'm sorry, guys," he said solemnly. He heard footsteps run over to him and he turned, seeing Ming again.

"What happened?" she asked, panting. "I was gonna get a teacher but then I saw Feng walk away. Where's Zuko?"

"I gave him to Feng," Ozai lied, not looking at her. "He said he wanted a pet bird, too."

"Oh, that's a surprise. But I guess that's pretty cool," Ming said, not at all catching his lowered voice.

"Yeah..."

Ozai stayed by his birds for the rest of the day, no longer fascinated with the other pets. He even sat by them at lunch, feeding them the crusts of his pepperoni pizza. Ming nor Feng came up to him again, so he spent most of his time in silence, replaying the scene of Dai Lee attacking and eating Zuko in his head.

When he went home that day and walked in the door, his older brother Iroh was home.

"Hey, how was Bring-Your-Pet-To-School-Day?" he asked.

"Fine," Ozai replied, not really interested in talking.

Iroh noticed that one of his little brother's cockatiels were missing. "What happened to Zuko? I thought he was your favorite."

Ozai looked at him at point-blank. "He flew away."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't written Avatar FF in... about a year. Oh dear. Well, I'm still here (and yes, I just rhymed). I'd like to make this a giftfic for TrueThinker, since she's given me oodles of stuff and all I've done in return is make icons, lol. And, well, the idea of young!Ozai and young!LF being buddies in elementary school came from her story "Somewhere Halfway", so I was inspired by it. And yes, I realized that young!Ozai may not seem so... cruel? But c'mon, it's canon that Ozai wasn't always evil (the Gaang wouldn't have unearthed his baby photo for nothing). I actually think he was a lot like Zuko, but instead of turning to the light, fell into the dark.

One more thing. I have no idea what kind of snakes eat birds, which was just kinda why I left Dai Lee's breed out.


End file.
